The Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) released this Tuesday (21) the GDP-FGV Monitor, which points to a 0.3% growth in Brazilian economic activity in April, compared to March, already including the seasonal adjustment.
In comparison with the same month in 2021, growth was 3.6%, with a rise of 2.8% in the mobile quarter ended in the fourth month of this year.
Researcher at the Brazilian Institute of Economics (FGV Ibre), economist Juliana Trece, coordinator of the research, highlights that the behavior of the economy in April was different from what it had been showing up until then. This was the third consecutive increase, although the index was lower than in the previous two months.
“Despite the growth of agriculture and industry, the service sector stopped contributing to the GDP in the same way that it had been contributing, mainly due to the retraction of trade and transport. From the perspective of demand, household consumption also grows for the third consecutive month”, explains the survey coordinator.
The increase in household consumption was 4.8% in the mobile quarter, when compared to the same period last year. Services increased by 7.5%, while semi-durable goods increased by 13.3%, and non-durables, by 2.1%. However, durable goods dropped.”(The drop) may reflect the rise in interest rates and uncertainties regarding economic and political performance in the election year”, explains Juliana Trece.
On the 15th, the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) of the Central Bank raised the basic interest rate (Selic) by 0.5 percentage point. This was the 11th consecutive rise, which raised the index to 13.25% per year. The GDP Monitor also points out that, in the same moving quarter, there was a growth of 1.5% in exports of goods and services and a retraction of 8 .2% of imports, compared to the same period in 2021.
The index also points to a quarterly retraction of 5.2% in gross fixed capital formation, which shows the change in investments in fixed assets, used to measure the productive capacity of the economy. The component was mainly influenced by the 10.7% drop in machinery and equipment.
The official GDP is calculated by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), a body that is part of the structure of the Ministry of Economy. The next partial release of the System of Quarterly National Accounts, which will cover the period from April to June this year, is scheduled by the institute for September 1st.
Source: CNN Brasil
